Anthony Joshua has faced both Jake Paul and Francis Ngannou in the boxing ring and the two-time world champion has now compared both challenges.
Joshua needed just two rounds to dispatch of Ngannou last March, outdoing the efforts of perennial heavyweight rival Tyson Fury, who was knocked down by the Cameroonian mixed martial artist on route to a controversial split-decision victory the year prior.
Meanwhile, against Paul on Friday night, ‘AJ’ took six rounds to dismiss the YouTuber-turned-boxer, with the defence-first American understandably reluctant to exchange early in the contest before eventually being caught and having his jaw broken in two places.
In the post-fight press conference of his win over ‘The Problem Child’, Joshua gave credit to Ngannou for making the switch from MMA to boxing and believes Paul has a place in boxing, just not at ‘the top level.’
“I take my hat off to Francis Ngannou because he is ultimately an MMA fighter, and he crossed over into boxing twice. He beat up Tyson Fury and then had a short fight with me, but he walked in that ring twice, credit to him.
“Jake Paul, who has been boxing now for five or so years at an elite level, the amount of pressure that has been put on his shoulders [is insane], and he has lived up to that pressure.
“I’m not going to say that they are world-class because in our modern-day era, there’s maybe four, five, six or seven Anthony Joshua’s; that can punch, that can avoid punches, that know what they’re doing in the ring. So, Jake will struggle at the top level, but he has a place in boxing, if he wants to stay.”
Joshua is now expected to return to action in February, where another triumph is expected to tee up a long-awaited showdown against Fury for the second half of 2026.
